CHEERS! Staff at a Midland family brewery are toasting success after one of their ales was voted among the best in Britain.

Holden's Golden Glow, from Holden's brewery in Woodsetton, near Dudley, was awarded the bronze medal in the Golden Ales category at the Great British Beer Festival, at Earls Court.

Jonathan Holden, managing director at the brewery which was founded 80 years ago by his great-grandmother Lucy Blanche, said he was delighted.

"We launched Golden Glow as a new beer back in 2001, when it was originally going to be a one-off brew.

"But drinkers seemed to take to it straight away. They liked the lighter, sweeter taste and we had to change our plans.

"It was going to be one of our limited edition brews, but by popular demand it is now on our permanent production line and is our second most popular beer behind our traditional bitter," he said.

Jonathan, aged 34, said that Holden's now had an empire of 20 pubs and was always looking to expand.

"We are looking at a couple of pubs at the moment which we may or may not acquire in the near future.

"It is just a question of finding the right pubs which fit in with our requirements.

"But business seems to be better than ever at the moment and it would be nice if we could add a couple of more houses to our estate," he added.

Most of Holden's 20 pubs are in the Black Country, but the empire also extends out to Birmingham, with the White House at Hockley, and even Ironbridge, where Finn O'Shaughnessy, formerly landlord of The Wheatsheaf in High Street, Carters Green, West Bromwich, now runs Ye Olde Robin Hood.